{"id":35127,"date":"2023-05-16T11:51:52","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T11:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/easydmarc.com\/blog\/?p=35127"},"modified":"2025-05-07T21:37:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T21:37:25","slug":"hipaa-compliant-cloud-healthcare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/easydmarc.com\/blog\/hipaa-compliant-cloud-healthcare\/","title":{"rendered":"HIPAA Compliant Cloud Services for Healthcare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Healthcare cybersecurity regulations, like HIPAA compliance and the NIST framework, have been around for decades to control the effects of digitization on such crucial aspects of the industry as privacy controls and cyber risk mitigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Healthcare has always been in this weird middle point of leveraging cutting-edge technologies in terms of new equipment and sticking to old ways in terms of healthcare practices and procedures. It’s understandable because healthcare records can be very personal and do tremendous harm to the patient and the healthcare institution if leaked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digitization and the convenience of healthcare cloud services force the industry to change and adapt. Thus, following appropriate healthcare cybersecurity frameworks and regulations becomes imperative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article covers the basics of HIPAA compliance and how cloud healthcare can stay within compliance limits due to choosing appropriate solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HIPAA Compliant Healthcare: The Scope<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before we move on to the healthcare cloud service recommendations, let’s dive into one of the most essential compliance standards in the industry \u2013 the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). It’s a US-based regulation (in action since 1996) that oversees patient privacy, data security, and protected health information’s (PHI) federal compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is PHI?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

PHI is any information about the patient that could help identify the person under question. This data includes the usual personally identifiable information (PII) like patient name, social security number, phone number, address, and date of birth. However, some specific data also includes medical record numbers, health plan numbers, fingerprints, and other biological identifiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Does Being HIPAA-Compliant Mean?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In short, HIPAA compliance is a mandatory standard. It refers to healthcare institutions and their business associates accessing PHI (defined above). Privacy Rule and Security Rule frameworks define the addressees and the scope of this regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Breach Notification Rule is another mandatory standard in HIPAA. It dictates how business associates and healthcare institutions should report the breach after the fact. No matter the incident size or type, all that affect PHI and ePHI should be adequately documented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the main rules covered above, HIPAA added special controls for business partners that work with healthcare institutions. HIPAA Omnibus Rule oversees third-party compliance, facilitating relationships between a business and a healthcare institution or two businesses that will handle PHI and ePHI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any HIPAA-compliant institution should:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Implement proper policies, procedures, and standards<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Analyze security risks<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Manage partners and business associates<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Educate employees about HIPAA and cybersecurity in general<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Manage and report incidents<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Implement self-assessment strategies and timelines<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Have a proper disaster recovery plan (DRP)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    HIPAA Compliant Email and DMARC<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    HIPAA refers to all the data stored and managed by the covered entities and their business associates. However, let’s keep in mind that most communications in the business world go through email. Thus, HIPAA-compliant email should be the highest priority for any healthcare institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The first thing that comes to mind is the appropriate encryption of data at rest and in transit. However, more than encryption is necessary for success. Here’s where email authentication protocols and the benefits of DMARC come in. HIPAA-compliant cloud solutions for email authentication protect organization integrity from spoofing and patient PHI from phishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Get your HIPAA Compliant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Cloud Email Authentication Service Today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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    Let’s talk<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    HIPAA Compliant Cloud Services for Secure PHI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Healthcare cloud services have various benefits, including increased efficiency, scalability, and accessibility to data. However, cloud computing in Healthcare also has its challenges:<\/p>\n\n\n\n